5 Ways to Organize Your Spice Rack

In the last installment of Spice Hunting, I gave some tips on how to clean out and reorganize your spice cupboard. A great discussion brewed up in the comments on different tools available for organizing spices—a topic I think is worthy of a post all its own.

If you're unsatisfied with your current spice storage system, here are some methods to consider. I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect system—so much depends on your needs, your spices, and available space—so rather than recommend one approach, I've listed pros and cons for each.

The Jar Approach

Storing spices in variably-sized glass jars is probably the least elegant solution, but it's also the cheapest, most adaptable, and is pretty helpful if you have strong locational memory.* You can buy jars in a range of sizes, or just hoard your jam and peanut butter jars.

* You can also have tons of fun when a guest reaches for your candied ginger only to discover smoked paprika.

Stackable Twist-together Jars

Commenter Vakreiter shared these food-grade plastic jars that screw into one another in stacks. Stack jars as high as your cabinet space allows, then unscrew an individual jar as needed. This is one of the most clever storage solutions I've seen.

Old School: Masala Dabba

Indian cooks may be familiar with the masala dabba, a flat tin or container that holds smaller, open containers of spices inside. These are ideal for spice blend supplies, as they're essentially a kit for frequently-combined spices. You can have masala dabbas for different classes of spices: Indian, specialty salts, or East Asian.

The pros:

Easy to group related spices

Allows easy refills from bulk spice containers

The con:

Unmanageable for larger spice collections

Some General Spice Storage Tips

No matter what system you go with, there are some general guidelines to follow to get the most out of your spices. Keep them away from light, heat, and excess air, which can all leach or damage spices' essential oils. That means your spice storage shouldn't be near the stove, oven, or other source of heat, at least not for long periods. But more importantly, make sure all your spices are visible to you. If you can't see 'em, you won't cook with them.

So how about you, serious eaters? How do you store your spices?

About the author: Max Falkowitz is a proud native of Queens, New York. He'll do just about anything for a good cup of tea and enjoys long walks down the aisles of Chinese groceries. He is known to make ice cream on occasion. You can follow his exotic spice- and ice cream-based ramblings on Twitter.

As a native of Queens, New York, Max developed an early hunger for dosas, dumplings, and Korean barbecue. Now he explores the city's evolving international food world by day and night. When not slurping noodles over a rickety table, he's in the kitchen tinkering with his ice cream maker on a never-ending quest to develop the best ice cream-making techniques.

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